Good morning. It is September 4th. It is another bright, low humidity day here in New York City. The renovations upstairs seem to involve hammering, but nevertheless, this is your Indignity Morning Podcast. I'm your host, Tom Scocca, taking a look at the day and the news. 

The Indignity Morning Podcast spends a lot of time criticizing and second guessing the news judgment and packaging of the New York Times, but it is also very important to praise the newspaper when it gets it right. And this morning's front page treatment of yesterday's big new news item is ideal. Here's the lead paragraph in the lead news column of this morning's New York Times front page, written by William K. Rashbaum and Hurubi Meko. 

“In July, 2021, six Nanjing-style salted ducks prepared by a Chinese consulate official's private chef were delivered to the New York home where the parents of a senior aide to Governor Kathy Hochul lived. About four months later, another six ducks arrived. Another four months later, there were more salted ducks. Eight months after that, still more salted ducks.” 

The story continues, “prosecutors say that the poultry shipments described in a federal indictment unsealed Tuesday were a small part of a years-long series of payoffs to the aide, Linda Sun, in exchange for actions that benefited the People's Republic of China and its Communist Party,” etc. etc. travel benefits, event tickets, promotion of a friend's freight business. Nanjing salted ducks, that was the detail that made the indictment sing, and the New York Times correctly recognized it. All that's missing would be a story crashed out by the food section about what Nanjing salted duck is, and how you might get it in New York. On the former question, a quick skim of the Wikipedia page says that in Nanjing they dry cure the duck, then they brine it, then they hang it up to dry and age. And in the end, they simmer it with star anise and other spices. Some people also flavor it with osmanthus to supplement what's supposed to be the natural osmanthus flavor of the duck. On the latter question, the best Google Maps can do right off is to find the Nanjing Duck House Restaurant in El Monte, California. There must be some closer than that, but it's going to take some digging. 

Else more on page one, there's a report on how Benjamin Netanyahu dug in and allowed the general strike demanding a ceasefire to peter out. 

On the top left, a Russian missile strike killed more than 50 people at a military academy in eastern Ukraine. 

Below the fold, extreme weather is increasing risk of collapse for US bridges. A grim but valuable madlibs story you can do. Wait till you find out how airframes weren't designed to handle the degree of turbulence that they now routinely fly through.

Bottom left, “immigration debate descends on an Ohio town.” The debate here in Springfield, Ohio is about whether the long-term residents of the town should consider any facts before declaring their desire to purge themselves of the Haitian immigrants there. “‘Haitians are occupying our land,’ declared one middle -aged woman, Glenda Bailey, at a meeting in Springfield, warning that the immigrants would soon become the majority and run everyone else out of town. She said they had low IQs.” The story continues, “speakers claimed without evidence that Haitians were responsible for drug trafficking, retail theft, and disease.” Just a little immigration debate playing itself out in the marketplace of ideas. 

Down at the bottom of page A7, least 129 people died during an attempted jailbreak at the largest prison in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the country's authorities said on Tuesday. It was the latest crisis to hit an overcrowded detention facility notorious for conditions that human rights groups have long decried as inhumane.

“A stampede was to blame for most of the deaths,” the Times writes, “but at least 24 inmates were killed by gunfire as they tried to escape from the Makala Central Prison on Monday, according to Congo's Interior Minister.” 

And, a dozen people died in the English Channel as a boat full of migrants capsized while trying to get from France to England. 

And on page A12, seniors at Cooper Union learned that their tuition will be free this year thanks to alumni donations, which is either a marvelous, uplifting surprise, or a return to a baseline educational promise that lasted more than 150 years before the exigencies of the 21st century had led the school to back out on it and start charging tuition. 

That is the news. Thank you for listening. The Indignity Morning podcast is edited by Joe MacLeod. The theme song is composed and performed by Mack Scocca-Ho, and it is your financial support that keeps the show going. So please subscribe to Indignity and send us some dollars.

Although a salted duck would be pretty good right now too. Just think about it, and if all goes well, we will talk again tomorrow.